What Should Prescribers and Policy Makers Know About US Drug Importation?

Drug importation raises several ethical and safety concerns relevant to prescribers and policy makers considering costs and benefits of international medicine importation. This article suggests key points to consider, especially from a policy perspective, when weighing imported medicines' perceived affordability and accessibility against additional resource expenditure needed to assure sufficient regulatory oversight and equitable distribution and to mitigate potential risks of harm to patients.

"Arming half-baked people with weapons!" Information enclaving among professionals and the need for a care-centred model for antibiotic use information in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi.

BACKGROUND: The overuse of antimicrobial medicines is a global health concern, including as a major driver of antimicrobial resistance. In many low- and middle-income countries, a substantial proportion of antibiotics are purchased over-the-counter without a prescription. But while antibiotics are widely available, information on when and how to use them is not. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to understand the acceptability among experts and professionals of sharing information on antibiotic use with end users - patients, carers and farmers - in Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi. METHODS: Building on extended periods of fieldwork amongst end-users and antibiotic providers in the three countries, we conducted two workshops in each, with a total of 44 medical and veterinary professionals, policy makers and drug regulators, in December 2021. We carried out extensive documentary and literature reviews to characterise antibiotic information systems in each setting. RESULTS: Participants reported that the general public had been provided information on medicine use in all three countries by national drug authorities, health care providers and in package inserts. Participants expressed concern over the danger of sharing detailed information on antibiotic use, particularly that end-users are not equipped to determine appropriate use of medicines. Sharing of general instructions to encourage professionally-prescribed practices was preferred. CONCLUSIONS: Without good access to prescribers, the tension between enclaving and sharing of knowledge presents an equity issue. Transitioning to a client care-centred model that begins with the needs of the patient, carer or farmer will require sharing unbiased antibiotic information at the point of care.

How Inpatient Psychiatric Units Can Be Both Safe and Therapeutic.

Inpatient psychiatric units should be therapeutic environments that support dignity and recovery. When adverse outcomes (eg, self-harm, violence) happen in these settings, clinicians and administrators can face litigation and other pressures to prioritize risk management over supporting patients' access to personal belongings, exercise equipment, and private spaces. This article describes these downward pressures toward sparser, controlling environments in inpatient psychiatric settings as a safety funnel and suggests strategies for balancing safety, humanity, and recovery in these contexts.

Private Equity-Acquired Physician Practices And Market Penetration Increased Substantially, 2012-21.

Private equity (PE) firms have been acquiring physician practices at an increasing rate, raising concerns about such firms' penetration at the physician level into local markets and the impact on health care quality and prices. However, limited knowledge exists about the extent of PE firms' control in local markets. By linking data on PE acquisitions to physician data and using full-time-equivalent physicians as the base of assessment, we estimated the local market share of each PE firm within ten physician specialties at the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) level. PE-acquired physician practice sites increased from 816 across 119 MSAs in 2012 to 5,779 across 307 MSAs in 2021. Single PE firms had significant market share, exceeding 30 percent in 108 MSA specialty markets and exceeding 50 percent in 50 of those markets. The findings raise concerns about competition and call for closer scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission, state regulators, and policy makers.

Trauma Center Hospitals Charged Higher Prices For Some Nontrauma Care Than Non-Trauma Center Hospitals, 2012-18.

Rising prices are a major cause of increased health care spending and health insurance premiums in the US. Hospital prices, specifically-for both inpatient and outpatient care-are the largest driver of rising health care spending in the commercial insurance market. As a result, policy makers and employers are increasingly interested in understanding the determinants of hospital prices. Hospitals serving as trauma centers are often endowed by regulators with monopoly power over trauma services in their geographic areas, and this monopoly power may spill over to nontrauma services. This study focused on the growing number of designated trauma centers and how trauma center status affects hospital prices for other, nontrauma services. We found that hospitals designated as trauma centers charged higher prices for nontrauma inpatient admissions and nontrauma emergency department visits when compared with hospitals that were not designated as trauma centers, even after controlling for potential confounders.

Management of antipsychotics in primary care: Insights from healthcare professionals and policy makers in the United Kingdom.

INTRODUCTION: Antipsychotic medication is increasingly prescribed to patients with serious mental illness. Patients with serious mental illness often have cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities, and antipsychotics independently increase the risk of cardiometabolic disease. Despite this, many patients prescribed antipsychotics are discharged to primary care without planned psychiatric review. We explore perceptions of healthcare professionals and managers/directors of policy regarding reasons for increasing prevalence and management of antipsychotics in primary care. METHODS: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 11 general practitioners (GPs), 8 psychiatrists, and 11 managers/directors of policy in the United Kingdom. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Respondents reported competency gaps that impaired ability to manage patients prescribed antipsychotic medications, arising from inadequate postgraduate training and professional development. GPs lacked confidence to manage antipsychotic medications alone; psychiatrists lacked skills to address cardiometabolic risks and did not perceive this as their role. Communication barriers, lack of integrated care records, limited psychology provision, lowered expectation towards patients with serious mental illness by professionals, and pressure to discharge from hospital resulted in patients in primary care becoming 'trapped' on antipsychotics, inhibiting opportunities to deprescribe. Organisational and contractual barriers between services exacerbate this risk, with socioeconomic deprivation and lack of access to non-pharmacological interventions driving overprescribing. Professionals voiced fears of censure if a catastrophic event occurred after stopping an antipsychotic. Facilitators to overcome these barriers were suggested. CONCLUSIONS: People prescribed antipsychotics experience a fragmented health system and suboptimal care. Several interventions could be taken to improve care for this population, but inadequate availability of non-pharmacological interventions and socioeconomic factors increasing mental distress need policy change to improve outcomes. The role of professionals' fear of medicolegal or regulatory censure inhibiting antipsychotic deprescribing was a new finding in this study.

Methods and measures to evaluate the impact of participatory model building on public policymakers: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Public policymakers are increasingly engaged in participatory model building processes, such as group model building. Understanding the impacts of policymaker participation in these processes on policymakers is important given that their decisions often have significant influence on the dynamics of complex systems that affect health. Little is known about the extent to which the impacts of participatory model building on public policymakers have been evaluated or the methods and measures used to evaluate these impacts. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A scoping review protocol was developed with the objectives of: (1) scoping studies that have evaluated the impacts of facilitated participatory model building processes on public policymakers who participated in these processes; and (2) describing methods and measures used to evaluate impacts and the main findings of these evaluations. The Joanna Briggs Institute's Population, Concept, Context framework was used to formulate the article identification process. Seven electronic databases-MEDLINE (Ovid), ProQuest Health and Medical, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase (Ovid), CINAHL Complete and PsycInfo-will be searched. Identified articles will be screened according to inclusion and exclusion criteria and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist for scoping reviews will be used and reported. A data extraction tool will collect information across three domains: study characteristics, methods and measures, and findings. The review will be conducted using Covidence, a systematic review data management platform. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The scoping review produced will generate an overview of how public policymaker engagement in participatory model building processes has been evaluated. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and to communities of practice that convene policymakers in participatory model building processes. This review will not require ethics approval because it is not human subject research.

Managing transitions from external assistance: cross-national learning about sustaining effective coverage.

The often-prominent role of external assistance in health financing in low- and middle-income countries raises the question of how such resources can enable the sustained or even expanded coverage of key health services and initiatives even after donor funding is no longer available. In response to this question, this paper analyses the process and outcomes of donor transitions in health-where countries or regions within countries are no longer eligible to receive grants or concessional loans from external sources based on eligibility criteria or change in donor policy. The comparative analysis of multiple donor transitions in four countries-China, Georgia, Sri Lanka and Uganda-identifies 16 factors related to policy actors, policy process, the content of donor-funded initiatives and the broader political-economic context that were associated with sustained coverage of previously donor supported interventions. From a contextual standpoint, these factors relate to favourable economic and political environments for domestic systems to prioritize coverage for donor-supported interventions. Clear and transparent transition processes also enabled a smoother transition. How the donor-supported initiatives and services were organized within the context of the overall health system was found to be critically important, both before and during the transition process. This includes a targeted approach to integrate, strengthen and align key elements of the governance, financing, input management and service delivery arrangements with domestic systems. The findings of this analysis have important implications for how both donors and country policy makers can better structure external assistance that enables sustained coverage regardless of the source of funding. In particular, donors can better support sustained coverage through supporting long-term structural and institutional reform, clear co-financing policies, ensuring alignment with local salary scales and engaging with communities to ensure a continued focus on equitable access post-transition.

Women's experience of childbirth care in health facilities: a qualitative assessment of respectful maternity care in Afghanistan.

BACKGROUND: Respectful maternity care (RMC) remains a key challenge in Afghanistan, despite progress on improving maternal and newborn health during 2001-2021. A qualitative study was conducted in 2018 to provide evidence on the situation of RMC in health facilities in Afghanistan. The results are useful to inform strategies to provide RMC in Afghanistan in spite of the humanitarian crisis due to Taliban's takeover in 2021. METHODS: Focus group discussions were conducted with women (4 groups, 43 women) who had used health facilities for giving birth and with providers (4 groups, 21 providers) who worked in these health facilities. Twenty key informant interviews were conducted with health managers and health policy makers. Motivators for, deterrents from using, awareness about and experiences of maternity care in health facilities were explored. RESULTS: Women gave birth in facilities for availability of maternity care and skilled providers, while various verbal and physical forms of mistreatment were identified as deterrents from facility use by women, providers and key informants. Low awareness, lack of resources and excessive workload were identified among the reasons for violation of RMC. CONCLUSION: Violation of RMC is unacceptable. Awareness of women and providers about the rights of women to respectful maternity care, training of providers on the subject, monitoring of care to prevent mistreatment, and conditioning any future technical and financial assistance to commitments to RMC is recommended.

Cost of implementing CAR-T activity and managing CAR-T patients: an exploratory study.

BACKGROUND: Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) represent an innovation but raise issues for healthcare payers because of the uncertainty on impact at market launch, high cost and important organisational impact. The literature has focused on their assessment, appraisal and market access solutions. No evidence on the costs sustained to implement CAR-T is available and a few studies reported the cost of the CAR-T clinical pathway, including the activities that are remunerated through inpatient or outpatient fee-for-service/episode. This paper aims at filling the information gap, assessing the cost of implementing CAR-T activity and the full cost of managing the CAR-T clinical pathway. METHODS: Cost analysis relied on the Activity Based Costing approach, which was applied to two Italian healthcare organisations, both CAR-T Centres authorized by the regional governments with a minimum of 20 patients treated with the first two CAR-T therapies launched on the market. RESULTS: The cost of implementing CAR-T was estimated at €1.31 million (calculated for one of the organizations with complete data). Most of these costs (77%) were generated by quality assurance activity. The mean cost per patient entering the CAR-T pathway (59 and 27) and surviving at follow-up (21 and 5) ranges from €48K to €57K and from €96K to €106K, respectively. Fees for hospitalization and infusion of gene therapy accounts for more than 70% of these costs. The actual hospitalisation cost varies greatly across patients and is in general lower than the fee-for-episode paid by the region to the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its limitations (exploratory nature; the time spent by staff on activities which are not remunerated through fees was estimated through interviews with the CAR-T coordinators; cost items are not fully comparable), this research highlighted the relevant organisational and economic impact of CAR-T and provided important insights for policy makers and healthcare managers: the necessity to invest resources in CAR-T implementation; the need for assessing activities which are not remunerated through fees for service / episode; the opportunity to shift from fee-for-episode / service to bundled payments for CAR-T clinical pathway.

Assessing the Human Health Benefits of Climate Mitigation, Pollution Prevention, and Biodiversity Preservation.

Background: Since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has amassed great wealth and achieved unprecedented material prosperity. These advances have come, however, at great cost to the planet. They are guided by an economic model that focuses almost exclusively on short-term gain, while ignoring natural capital and human capital. They have relied on the combustion of vast quantities of fossil fuels, massive consumption of the earth's resources, and production and environmental release of enormous quantities of chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, and plastics. They have caused climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, the "Triple Planetary Crisis". They are responsible for more than 9 million premature deaths per year and for widespread disease - impacts that fall disproportionately upon the poor and the vulnerable. Goals: To map the human health impacts of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. To outline a framework for assessing the health benefits of interventions against these threats. Findings: Actions taken by national governments and international agencies to mitigate climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss can improve health, prevent disease, save lives, and enhance human well-being. Yet assessment of health benefits is largely absent from evaluations of environmental remediation programs. This represents a lost opportunity to quantify the full benefits of environmental remediation and to educate policy makers and the public. Recommendations: We recommend that national governments and international agencies implementing interventions against climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss develop metrics and strategies for quantifying the health benefits of these interventions. We recommend that they deploy these tools in parallel with assessments of ecologic and economic benefits. Health metrics developed by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study may provide a useful starting point.Incorporation of health metrics into assessments of environmental restoration will require building transdisciplinary collaborations. Environmental scientists and engineers will need to work with health scientists to establish evaluation systems that link environmental and economic data with health data. Such systems will assist international agencies as well as national and local governments in prioritizing environmental interventions.

Understanding the Integrated Health Management System Policy in China From Multiple Perspectives: Systematic Review and Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The integrated health management system (IHMS), which unites all health care-related institutions under a health-centered organizational framework, is of great significance to China in promoting the hierarchical treatment system and improving the new health care reform. China's IHMS policy consists of multiple policies at different levels and at different times; however, there is a lack of comprehensive interpretation and analysis of these policies, which is not conducive to the further development of the IHMS in China. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to comprehensively analyze and understand the characteristics, development, and evolution of China's IHMS policy to inform the design and improvement of the system. METHODS: We followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to collect 152 policy documents. With the perspective of policy tools and policy orientation as the core, a comprehensive 6D framework including policy level, policy nature, release time, policy tools, stakeholders, and policy orientation was established by combining the content of policy texts. These dimensions were then analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: First, we found that, regarding the coordination of policy tools and stakeholders, China's IHMS policy was more inclined to use environment-based policy tools (1089/1929, 56.45%), which suggests a need for further balance in the internal structure of policy tools. Attention to different actors varied, and the participation of physicians and residents needs further improvement (65/2019, 3.22% and 11/2019, 0.54%, respectively). Second, in terms of level differences, Shanghai's IHMS policy used fewer demand-based policy tools (43/483, 8.9%), whereas the national IHMS policy and those of other provinces and cities used fewer supply-based tools (61/357, 17.1% and 248/357, 69.5%, respectively). The national IHMS strategy placed more emphasis on the construction of smart health care (including digital health; 10/275, 3.6%), whereas Shanghai was a leader in the development of healthy community and healthy China (9/158, 5.7% and 4/158, 2.5%, respectively). Third, in terms of time evolution, the various policy tools showed an increasing and then decreasing trend from 2014 to 2021, with relatively more use of environment-based policy tools and less use of demand-based policy tools in the last 3 years. The growth of China's IHMS policy can be divided into 3 stages: the disease-centered period (2014-2017), the e-health technology development period (2017-2019), and the health-centered period (2018-2021). CONCLUSIONS: Policy makers should make several adjustments, such as coordinating policy tools and the uneven relationships among stakeholders; grasping key policy priorities in the context of local characteristics; and focusing on horizontal, multidimensional integration of health resources starting from the community. This study expands the objects of policy research and improves the framework for policy analysis. The findings provide some possible lessons for future policy formulation and optimization.

A global comparative analysis of the criteria and equity considerations included in eighty-six national COVID-19 plans.

Systematic priority setting (PS), based on explicit criteria, is thought to improve the quality and consistency of the PS decisions. Among the PS criteria, there is increased focus on the importance of equity considerations and vulnerable populations. This paper discusses the PS criteria that were included in the national COVID-19 pandemic plans, with specific focus on equity and on the vulnerable populations considered. Secondary synthesis of data, from a global comparative study that examined the degree to which the COVID-19 plans included PS, was conducted. Only 32 % of the plans identified explicit criteria. Severity of the disease and/or disease burden were the commonly mentioned criteria. With regards to equity considerations and prioritizing vulnerable populations, 22 countries identified people with co-morbidities others mentioned children, women etc. Low social-economic status and internally displaced population were not identified in any of the reviewed national plans. The limited inclusion of explicit criteria and equity considerations highlight a need for policy makers, in all contexts, to consider instituting and equipping PS institutions who can engage diverse stakeholders in identifying the relevant PS criteria during the post pandemic period. While vulnerability will vary with the type of health emergency- awareness of this and having mechanisms for identifying and prioritizing the most vulnerable will support equitable pandemic responses.

Overcoming Barriers of Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Nursing Schools.

BACKGROUND: To create an inclusive environment in nursing education, challenges to incorporating change must be addressed including institutional racism, power differences, privilege, and implicit biases (O'Connor et al.). This article discusses barriers that interfere with the implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within schools of nursing and offers strategies for building a culture of inclusivity at academic institutions. METHOD: This article is based on factual, researched, and firsthand information. RESULTS: Administrators and stakeholders need to determine how DEI is incorporated into their institution's mission, vision, and values. Forming a DEI council that consists of equal representation from faculty, staff, and students will foster inclusiveness to incorporate DEI initiatives within schools of nursing and will allow outcomes to be measured. CONCLUSION: Barriers should be identified and removed to make schools of nursing a safe and inclusive zone for faculty, staff, and students. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(1):53-56.].

Research-to-Policy Partnerships for Evidence-Informed Resource Allocation in Health Systems in Africa: An Example Using the Thanzi Programme.

OBJECTIVES: Empirical data on the impact of research-to-policy interventions are scant, with the few attempts mainly focusing on ensuring policymakers' timely access to evidence and evidence-informed dialogs. METHODS: This article reflects on how the Thanzi Programme cultivates an approach of research-to-policy engagement in health economics. The program is structured around 3 interrelated pillars comprising research evidence generation, capacity and capability building, and research-and-policy engagement. Each pillar is described and examples from the Thanzi Programme are given, including illustrating how each pillar informs the other. Limitations and challenges of the approach are discussed, with examples of a way forward. RESULTS: This program supports health system strengthening through addressing gaps identified by program partners. This includes providing health economics training and research and strengthened partnerships between in-country researchers and health policymakers, as well as between national and international researchers. Platforms bringing together researchers and policymakers to shape the research agenda, disseminate evidence, and foster an evidence-based dialog are institutionalized at country and regional levels. Health Economics and Policy Units have been established, which sit between the Ministries of Health and Universities, to augment policymakers and health economics researchers' engagements on priority health policy matters and determine researchable policy questions. The establishment of the Health Economics Community of Practice as a substantive expert committee under the East Central and Southern Africa Health Community bolsters the contribution of health economics evidence in policy processes at the regional level. CONCLUSIONS: The Thanzi Programme is an example of how a research-and-policy partnership framework is being used to support evidence-informed health resource allocation decisions in Africa. It uses a combination of high-quality multidisciplinary research, sustained research and policymakers' engagement and capacity strengthening to use research evidence to guide and support policy makers more effectively.

Disseminating health research to public health policy-makers and practitioners: a survey of source, message content and delivery modality preferences.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the views of policy-makers and practitioners regarding how best to communicate research evidence is important to support research use in their decision-making. AIM: To quantify and describe public health policy-makers and practitioners' views regarding the source, content and form of messages describing public health research findings to inform their decision-making. We also sought to examine differences in preferences between public health policy-makers and practitioners. METHODS: A cross sectional, value-weighting survey of policy-makers and practitioners was conducted. Participants were asked to allocate a proportion of 100 points across different (i) sources of research evidence, (ii) message content and (iii) the form in which evidence is presented. Points were allocated based on their rating of influence, usefulness and preference when making decisions about health policy or practice. RESULTS: A total of 186 survey responses were received from 90 policy-makers and 96 practitioners. Researchers and government department agencies were the most influential source of research evidence based on mean allocation of points, followed by knowledge brokers, professional peers and associations. Mean point allocation for perceived usefulness of message content was highest for simple summary of key findings and implications, and then evidence-based recommendations and data and statistical summaries. Finally, based on mean scores, policy-makers and practitioners preferred to receive research evidence in the form of peer-reviewed publications, reports, evidence briefs and plain language summaries. There were few differences in scores between policy-makers and practitioners across source, message content or form assessments or those with experience in different behavioural areas. CONCLUSIONS: The findings should provide a basis for the future development and optimization of dissemination strategies to this important stakeholder group.

Identifying gaps and strengthening capacities for abortion research in Ethiopia: Assessment of abortion-research related experiences, skills, and interests.

Collecting accurate and reliable data on abortion is public health imperative, but it is a challenging task that requires specific methods and carefully implemented study designs. This study aimed to assess the institution and individual-level capacity for conducting abortion-related research and identify effective ways to strengthen the capacities of abortion- researchers by filling critical skills and resource gaps. Employing a cross-sectional quantitative and descriptive qualitative research approach, we found that the implementation environment posed challenges, including resistance from religious groups, and individual skill gaps in analyzing abortion data, communication, policy brief preparation, and networking skills. Therefore, investing in building the skills and confidence of researchers to conduct robust research through tailor-made training and reactivating existing partnership fora to facilitate regular interaction between the research community and policy makers is crucial. Jointly seeking funding to support locally relevant research activities is also recommended.

La collecte de données précises et fiables sur l'avortement est un impératif de santé publique, mais c'est une tâche difficile qui nécessite des méthodes spécifiques et des plans d'étude soigneusement mis en œuvre. Cette étude visait à évaluer la capacité des institutions et des individus à mener des recherches sur l'avortement et à identifier des moyens efficaces de renforcer les capacités des chercheurs sur l'avortement en comblant les lacunes critiques en matière de compétences et de ressources. En utilisant une approche de recherche qualitative quantitative et descriptive transversale, nous avons constaté que l'environnement de mise en œuvre posait des défis, notamment la résistance des groupes religieux et les lacunes des compétences individuelles dans l'analyse des données sur l'avortement, la communication, la préparation des notes d'orientation et les compétences en réseau. Par conséquent, investir dans le renforcement des compétences et de la confiance des chercheurs pour mener des recherches solides grâce à une formation sur mesure et réactiver les forums de partenariat existants pour faciliter une interaction régulière entre la communauté de la recherche et les décideurs politiques est crucial. Il est également recommandé de rechercher conjointement des financements pour soutenir des activités de recherche pertinentes au niveau local.

Health Care Costs Associated With Hospice Use For People With Dementia In The US.

Policy makers in the US are increasingly concerned that greater use of the Medicare hospice benefit by people with dementia is driving up costs. Yet this perspective fails to incorporate potential cost savings associated with hospice. We estimated the association between hospice use by people with dementia and health care costs, using Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data from the period 2002-19. For community-dwelling people with dementia, Medicare costs were lower for those who used hospice than for those who did not, whether hospice enrollment was in the last three days ($2,200) or last three months ($7,200) of life, primarily through lower inpatient care costs in the last days of life. In nursing homes, total and Medicare costs were lower for hospice users with dementia who enrolled within a month of death than for those who did not use hospice. Total costs for the entire last year of life for those who used any days of hospice in the last year compared with no hospice did not differ, although Medicare costs were higher and Medicaid costs lower for those in nursing homes. Medicare policies that reduce hospice access and incentivize hospice disenrollment may actually increase Medicare costs, given that hospice cost savings generally derive from a person's last days or weeks of life.

Health Care Service Price Comparison Suggests That Employers Lack Leverage To Negotiate Lower Prices.

Almost two-thirds of the 153 million nonelderly people in the United States who have health insurance through their employer are in self-insured plans. In contrast to fully insured plans, employers using self-insured plans assume responsibility for employees' medical costs and therefore have an incentive to reduce the prices of health care services. We compared prices for common services in self-insured plans with those in fully insured plans. Using the Health Care Cost Institute's data set of claims for one-third of the US population with employer-sponsored insurance, we found that unadjusted prices were higher in self-insured plans for most of the services we studied, with the largest differences found for endoscopies (approximately 8 percent higher in self-insured plans), colonoscopies (approximately 7 percent), laboratory tests (approximately 5 percent), and moderate-severity emergency department visits (4 percent). When patient characteristics, plan type, and geography were adjusted for, differences were generally smaller but were consistent with these findings. Higher prices in self-insured plans suggest that there may be opportunities for employers to lower prices and for policy makers to act where employers have limited leverage to negotiate with providers.